


Of Brothers and Fathers

by protectmikasamuels2017



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Good Regulus Black, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Regulus Black Lives, and wonders whether he should have just taken the year off, harry has questions, regulus black teaches potions, which regulus has to answer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25293613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectmikasamuels2017/pseuds/protectmikasamuels2017
Summary: His brother is on the loose, Dementors are patrolling Hogwarts and his brother's ex is going to be the newest victim to the Defence Against the Dark Arts position.Add in Severus' more foul demeanour than usual and this year was shaping up nicely to be the worst one he's ever had for teaching. There wasn't enough alcohol in the world to make this bearable.But first he had to get through a talk with Harry about his brother.AKARegulus and Harry talk about Sirius, James and Severus' surprising connection to Lily.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 154





	Of Brothers and Fathers

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this is an AU where Regulus survives the cave and the war, working with Dumbledore to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes. In the mean time he gets a job working in Hogwarts Potions Department (because I find it incredibly hard to believe that one person can do all that work for over a thousand students, especially in a core subject), and reconnects with his remaining cousins who are still sane and free. Lucius is in Azkaban here (because even Merula in Hogwarts Mystery who would have been a child during the war knew that Lucius had been a willing Death Eater).

_‘Merlin damn you Sirius’_ Regulus thought tiredly as he all but fell down into his chair and rested his arms on the desk in front of him and resisted the urge to place his head on top of his arms. _‘Just when things were settling down and becoming good again, you just had to go and break out of Azkaban didn’t you?’_

He had to because that was just Sirius. His older brother had always had a talent for making sure that all the attention was on him and him alone, and clearly spending twelve years locked away in the worst place known to wizardkind had done nothing to dampen it. And ever since he had escaped Sirius had managed to throw the entire wizarding world into complete and utter chaos, his name was being spoken on everyone’s lips and he had managed to disrupt both Regulus’ and the rest of their families lives to the extreme.

Case in point, it had only been a month since Sirius had managed the impossible but already Grimmauld Place and all other Black properties in Britain and the neighbouring countries had been searched three times already as a result. The first search, well, Regulus had expected it really. A mass murderer was on the loose and the Aurors did have to cover all their bases in order to protect the public. But by the time that the third search had happened the day before he had departed for Hogwarts, he couldn’t help but feel that the Aurors and the Ministry itself simply had no clue what to do next and were just going around in circles. 

He could have told them after all that there was no way in hell that Sirius would ever come to Regulus or any other Black once he escaped; not since that summer night seventeen years ago when he had left home for good. The brother that he used to know would rather sleep in a ditch with a Dementor, than set a single toe inside any property owned by a Black.

But then again the brother he used to know would have rather died before he had betrayed James Potter in any way so who knew?

Even Andi and Cissy’s homes hadn’t been spared from the mayhem, with Aurors searching (ransacking) the residences from top to bottom. Narcissa had only put up with one ‘search’ before she had packed both hers and Draco’s bags and departed Britain to spend the remainder of the summer at the Malfoy residence in Venice away from the eyes of the British wizarding world.

 _‘I already told Alastor Moody that I would leave a spare key for them under a flowerpot’_ she had sarcastically written to him a week later. _‘And I have made it perfectly clear that if even one teaspoon went missing or there was a single chip in any antique, then I would be sure to file the appropriate charges against both all the Aurors partaking in the search and the Ministry itself. The Malfoy name still has considerable power and influence despite Lucius’ incarnation.’_

 _‘I do wish that you could come and spend the remainder of the summer with us in a more peaceful setting,’_ she had written to him a few days later. _‘But I am aware that due to recent events that the Ministry deems it necessary that your actions are closely monitored and that you remain within the country borders for the foreseeable future. Perhaps we could all spend Christmas together in Grimmauld Place instead when the time comes?’_

 _‘Can I request that you keep an eye out for Draco please once term time in Hogwarts once again resumes?’_ had been written to him in a secret message shortly before September first, a note that had been charmed with several spells known only to the Black family, clearly to ensure that the Ministry didn’t interpret the letter. _‘Thankfully the wider public seems to be unaware of his relation to Sirius, but Merlin only knows how his housemates will react once they are together again. As the Deputy Head of Slytherin House I know that you have the power . . .’_

Andi on the other hand had stood her ground and refused to leave despite Narcissa’s best attempts to convince her otherwise; nor did she try to avoid the public once the news of Sirius’ escape became known like Regulus had taken to.

_‘I have nothing to hide’ she had told him furiously when he had come over to her house for tea and had been met with both her and Ted trying to fix the damage the Aurors had left and hadn’t bothered to rectify in the wake of their search/raid. ‘I hold nothing but hate for Sirius and his actions. The last thing that I would ever do is help the monster; he’s as bad as Bellatrix in my book. Maybe even worse. If he ever does try to show his face I’ll curse him blind before alerting the Ministry to his whereabouts.’_

And he, himself, for the first time ever, he dreaded returning to Hogwarts.

When he arrived back on August 24th it seemed like everything was going from bad to worse. Dementors and Aurors would be patrolling the school grounds and castle, Severus’ attitude had risen to new heights of unbearable that no amounts of alcohol could fix and he couldn’t help but pray for the poor students who would be forced to bear him as a teacher this year. Meanwhile the rest of Hogwarts faculty were giving him sad looks that made him want to bang his head very hard against the wall. And then, what had to be the cherry on top of the whole disaster: Remus Lupin, Sirius’ former friend and now ex-boyfriend and one of Severus’ mortal enemies to boot would now be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Merlin, he wanted the year to be over with already and it hadn’t even really begun yet.

As it was it was only September 6th and the attention was unbearable. He didn’t think that it had even been this bad when he had first started teaching after the aftermath of the war and Sirius’ sentence to Azkaban. People were watching him everywhere he went and as a result he had called in several favours that he had with some of the other teachers to take over some of his duties until Sirius was either caught or things had settled down a little. It didn’t help that he and Sirius looked so similar that he felt like he was looking at an older, wilder, more feral version of himself whenever he looked at wanted posters of Sirius or the Daily Prophet these days.

Curse the Black family genes, it was rather unsettling to think that was what he would look like if he didn’t take proper care of his appearance and health.

Thankfully he’s jolted out of his thoughts about his appearance and mad older brothers by the sound of someone knocking on the door to his office. Immediately he straightened himself up and grabbed a quill, trying to at least give the appearance that he had been doing work and not thinking over how similar he and his brother still looked even though they had long left their childhoods behind.

And successfully managed not to groan when Harry Potter stepped into the room.

He held nothing really against the boy himself. He actually rather liked Harry as a student, regardless of who his father is. 

He had never liked James Potter at all during their time at Hogwarts together, even when the man had finally procured some long-needed common decency and had stopped hexing and cursing people for fun. There were just far too many bitter memories for Regulus to even bother trying. Growing up Sirius had always made it no secret that James had been the brother that he had always wanted and James and Sirius flaunting that ‘they’re brothers for life’ in public at every opportunity only made it hurt more. Add in a quidditch and house rivalry, and the cruel, hurtful and in some cases almost deadly pranks that the two of them had loved playing on him, his friends and his house and you have perfectly understandable reasons for hating a person. 

And while he would never have wished James dead or any serious ill upon him, he couldn’t genuinely say that he had mourned Potter when he had received the news of his death. He felt bad for the orphaned child of course, and that Sirius had betrayed the deep trust and faith that the Potters had placed in him, but for James as a person? He wasn’t exactly inconsolable at the news.

Lily Potter, formerly Evans on the other hand he had had very little involvement with during their school years. Because while she may have been Severus’ best friend for most of their time at Hogwarts together he had tried hard to have limited contact with her for two important reasons. One, he knew that several of his housemates would be watching him closely for any indications that he was following in his brother’s footsteps and if they had seen him possibly ‘befriending’ a muggleborn then they would have immediately written back to their parents who would have informed his. And the punishment for that would have been unbearable. Secondly, Potter had never made his infatuation with his fellow Gryffindor a secret. Befriending Evans would have undoubtedly put him on those insufferable gnomes' radar.

So while he may have quietly respected Lily’s talent as a witch, as well as her gift for potions, he had made no effort to befriend her.

The risks back then had outweighed the benefits in his eyes.

But unlike Severus, he had always made it a point during his Hogwarts career to never take his grudges with a student’s parents out on the students themselves. He himself had spent years after the war trying to prove that he wasn’t like his parents (or Sirius, or Bellatrix, or any number of undesirable relatives) and the last thing he wanted was to be a hypocrite and take his issues with a child’s relatives out on the innocent children themselves. 

So instead he had always made it a point to treat his students with respect and to help all of them both in class and outside of it, whether they were Slytherins or Gryffindors. Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. And he had done the same with Harry.

Harry had a skill for potions. While not as gifted as his mother or his grandfather were as said to be, when the boy did bother to put the work in and actually focus he easily maintained an ‘Exceeds Expectations’. In fact with a kind exam and examiner along with some actual dedication to the craft he could easily see Harry obtaining an ‘Outstanding’ in his O.W.Ls and later his N.E.W.Ts if he chose to continue.

Although first he and the rest of his classmates would have to survive having Severus teach them for the rest of the school year though. The fact that he wasn’t teaching the third years this year with Sirius on the loose was a mercy for him and a torment for them.

Case in point, it was less than a week back and he already had six third years come to him begging him to return to teaching them instead of Severus. Including Draco actually. Neville Longbottom had been in near hysterics during his visit. Which reminds him, he was going to need to have a serious (uh, that damn word) conversation with Severus about threatening students' pets.

His old friend may have a talent for potions, but that talent did not extend to actually teaching his craft.

Wait, not important right now, focus on Harry.

He had tried hard the last few days to avoid Harry. It was Sirius’ fault after all that the boy was an orphan and that he was being raised by Muggles. So he had tried to avoid Harry on the off-chance that his presence, especially now with his brother now once again on the loose might be uncomfortable for the boy.

So that plan had worked out wonderfully. Just wonderfully.

“Yes Harry?” he nodded instead, beckoning for the boy to come closer. He noticed that he had a couple of books held up close to his chest, perhaps coming from the great hall or the library or even on their way there to do some studying. Or at least pretend to study.

When he was close enough to the desk, Harry loosened his grip on his books and grabbed something that was on the very front of the stack and then slammed it down on his desk.

It was the front page of the Daily Prophet. Which had a picture of Sirius screaming madly front and centre.

Oh, for fucks sake.

“He’s your family, isn’t he?” Harry asked thickly, swallowing frequently like he was trying to prevent tears from falling.

Was it too late now to change his identity and leave the country to start a new life abroad?

Probably. And he abhorred the use of the memory or confundus charm on minors.

“ . . . Yes” he admitted after running through all possibilities and deciding on just plain honesty. “Sirius is my older brother.”

“And he’s responsible for what happened to my parents?” Harry insisted desperately. He didn’t think that he’s ever seen the boy so upset before. His breathing was rapid and his eyes were starting to glisten with tears. “Percy told me what he did. About what he did to them. To my parents. He was their friend. And he betrayed them!”

At the end of that sentence Regulus was up on his feet in a moment and was carefully guiding Harry to the chair in front of his desk to sit down. The boy was quickly reaching high levels of hysteria and if he didn’t calm down quickly then he may soon find himself having to shove a calming draught down the boy’s throat or bring him to Madam Pomfrey.

“Come on Harry deep breaths” he ordered, “just take a deep breath in, and then out slowly ok? Just take deep breaths now.”

He wasn’t sure just how long had passed until Harry’s breathing had calmed down, but eventually it did manage to settle into something resembling normal. And once he was assured that Harry wasn’t going to slide into another round of hysteria, he settled himself back behind his desk and flicked his wand at the kettle resting by the stove which immediately got to work pouring two cups of tea before reaching into his desk to pull out a large slab of chocolate. 

“Harry did you not know the circumstances surrounding your parents deaths until Percy told you?” Regulus couldn’t help himself but ask as the boy took the slab of chocolate and cup of tea offered to him.

“No” Harry muttered in response, his eyes downcast, “my aunt and uncle Professor, . . . they, they don’t like magic. At all. They never told me anything about my parents or magic until Hagrid arrived to tell me about Hogwarts.”

“And when you did arrive at Hogwarts, everyone just assumed that you already knew” Regulus finished. It made sense. That was what he had thought himself until Harry’s near meltdown in his office just now.

“Yes” Harry confirmed, “it was only when I was asking Percy about Sirius Black that he realised I didn’t know what he did. So he brought me back up to my dorm and he told me everything he knew. And then I had to know then if he was -”

“Related to me?” Regulus finished and Harry blushed, looking down on his hands.

“Yes. Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologise for Harry” he hurriedly insisted. “Our relationship is not exactly a secret after all. Sirius is my older brother, but by the time that he was imprisoned we hadn’t spoken to each other in five years.”

“Why?” Harry frowned.

“Well you see Harry,” Regulus started, he at least owned the boy as much of an explanation that he could give. “The Blacks are a very old, very wealthy and extremely pureblooded family. If you ever go into studying the History of Magic properly and not the drivel that Binns teaches; in particular British history, you’ll find that the Blacks have been one of the most influential, if not the most, families who shaped wizarding society. But I definitely wouldn’t have called them good people or the kind who were interested in Light magic.”

“Your family were Dark Wizards,” came the accusation before Harry clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

“Most were” he admitted, “or they supported it. That’s not exactly a secret either. Sirius when he was younger, he didn’t agree with most of our family’s teachings, but it didn’t come into tension until he was older. Our entire family had been in Slytherin, until Sirius. He went to Gryffindor where he met your father, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin.”

“Professor Lupin?” Harry questioned.

“Yes” Regulus nodded. “They were inseparable, the four of them. Sirius and your father especially. They were best friends, partners in crime. It was rare to find one without the other. From first year to fifth the four had built up a reputation for themselves as mischievous troublemakers. And in the case of my brother and your father . . . bullies.”

“My father was never a bully!” Harry defended hotly, rage evident clear as day on his face. “He was a good man, he was head boy!”

“He was a good man and he was head boy in his seventh year, those are true” Regulus nodded. “But he was a bully in his younger years until something, I don’t know what, had prompted a change of heart. I saw it first hand with my own eyes Harry. And more often than not, their favourite targets were Slytherins. Sometimes they cursed people awfully for no reason at all other than they were bored and wanted to amuse themselves. In one particular case they made a classmate’s head swell to twice it’s normal size because they were looking for a distraction not to do their homework apparently. The student had been a first year at the time and they were fourth years.”

“My dad did that?” Harry said, sounding heart-broken.

“Him or Sirius” he confirmed; it may be hard for Harry to hear that but he had no intention of sugar-coating James’ actions as a teenager. “I still have a scar on my leg from one of their little ‘pranks’ after Slytherin bet Gryffindor for the Quidditch cup. They may have said that it was all fun and games and probably had a right old laugh about it in private, but they weren’t the ones who had to spend a week in the hospital wing in agonising pain that no healing potions could combat.”

“But my dad couldn’t have been all bad right?” Harry insisted desperately. “He was head boy after all and Dumbledore said that he saved Professor’s Sanpe’s life once!”

“He did?” Regulus asked an eyebrow raised. Interesting. 

“Severus never told me that particular tale,” he noted, “although I guess that’s because it would have damaged his pride. I suppose you’ll have to take Professor Dumbledore’s word for it as it’s not something I know about and I hardly doubt Professor Snape would tell you anyway. He hated James and Sirius viciously and to a lesser degree Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The three of them were mortal enemies.”

“Really?” Harry frowned.

“Yes” he confirmed, “I don't know how or why the rivalry started, just that it began at some point in their first year. James and Sirius took a particular vicious delight in humiliating Severus; but I wouldn’t call him an innocent party in it though. He did try almost every trick in the book to try and get them expelled. If your father and Sirius wanted to embarrass someone and Severus was in the vicinity, nine times out of ten he would be their chosen victim, much to the ire of your mother. The two of them were best friends for most of their time at Hogwarts.”

“Professor Snape was friends with my mum?” Harry asked, his voice filled with horror.

“Best friends” Regulus corrected, enjoying the look on Harry’s face. That was clearly new information to the boy. “Apparently they lived near each other back when they were children and bonded due to being the only ones with magic. They continued their friendship at Hogwarts even after being sorted into different Houses, up until the end of their fifth year . . . and then they drifted apart. Their lives were heading in different directions and as a result their friendship fell apart.”

He was not going to be the one to tell a thirteen year old the details regarding that particular tale. It can be Dumbledore’s or Remus’ or someone else’s problem but it won’t be his.

“Huh” Harry frowned, a whole host of different emotions crossing his face as he processed the new information. Regulus didn’t know just what picture of his mother that he had had in his mind but it clearly didn’t involve her being friends with the most terrifying teacher at Hogwarts.

“And I think that it goes without saying that you will never mention that you know this to Professor Snape” he stressed, leaning over the table to emphasise the point. “Because if he ever realises that I have told you, then he will kill me. Slowly and painfully. So not a word.”

“Yes Professor” Harry nodded. “But you still haven’t told me about your brother.”

This was what he meant, the child was focused when he wanted to be. Now if only he could bother applying that focus in class.

“Well Sirius went to Gryffindor as I told you” he explained and Harry nodded in agreement. “First in my family not to get sorted into Slytherin. And like I said, it was there that he met your father and they became inseparable. At first Sirius seemed like he was going to be the best out of all my family. He was brave, confident, an extremely talented wizard and he seemed against so many of the values that Blacks had followed for centuries. He despised the notion of blood purity, wanted fair rights and treatment for muggleborns and rejected the Dark Arts.”

“But so are you!” Harry argued perplexed, “I mean I’ve seen you use post-it notes and muggle pens and you use a thermos for your tea when teaching in class! And Percy says that you’re fighting to get a werewolf equality act pushed through the Wizengamot.”

“Sirius appeared to have come to the realisation about our family practices quicker than I did back then” was his only explanation for that. Perhaps when Harry was older, Regulus may share the story that led to his realisation of his wrongs and working to redeem himself, but that day would not be today.

“And how come you weren’t speaking before his arrest?” Harry frowned like that idea was foreign to him. But then again his main example for family relations was the Weasley family after all; all Gryffindors who saw each other every day and still received frequent letters from their eldest brothers despite how time-consuming and far-away their jobs were.

“When Sirius was sixteen, he ran away from home” he explained, “he didn’t agree with our family’s ways and when he left he was disowned. He immediately went to your father’s and they took him in. And after that we didn’t speak. Sirius was forming his own path and I was being pushed down another one and as Sirius made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with any of our family including me, I returned the favour. We never spoke to each other again.”

“I’m sorry” Harry said and he seemed to genuinely mean it.

“Don’t be Harry, none of that was your fault. Sirius and I are both responsible for the decisions we made during that time. We chose those paths.”

His was chosen slightly under duress, but he had still chosen it.

“But why did Sirius decide to betray my parents?” he asked.

“I don’t know Harry” he answered, “I truly don’t. Like I said we never spoke to each other ever since my fifth year of school and for the last few months of the war I was working in the shadows on a mission from Dumbledore. Only Dumbledore knew where I was, what I was doing, that I was even alive. I didn’t know what Sirius had done until Dumbledore had come to tell me himself. By that time Sirius had already killed Pettigrew and those muggles and had been sentenced to Azkaban. I wish I could give you the answers that you want Harry but that is all I know.”

Sadly it was. 

“That’s ok Professor” Harry shrugged, fiddling with the now empty tea cup, “but can I ask you something else?”

“Of course.”

“How did my dad become head boy if he was a bully? I mean look at Percy he would never bully anyone. He can be a bit stuffy yeah, and he and the twins can get into really big fights but he’s a good person. People look up to him. They like him.” Harry asked, his face screwed up in a familiar expression. The same expression he has when Regulus asks him a question in class and he hadn’t been paying attention.

“People can change Harry,” he said gently, “I did some things in my youth that I regret and I worked to amend them. Nobody’s the same person that they were at eleven, or fifteen or twenty. We grow and change. Can you tell me that you’re the same person that you were when you first started Hogwarts?”

“No,” Harry said immediately.

“Exactly” he smiled. “In his youth James did things that he apparently later came to regret and he worked to become a better person. And he did. He became a credit to his House and someone who the younger years could look up to as a role model. And I can assure you of this Harry, if he hadn’t then your mother never would have given him the time of day; I’m sure Professor Lupin could tell you several volumes worth of stories regarding the saga of your parents. It was quite entertaining when we were students.”

“Do you think he’ll tell me?” Harry asked.

“I’m sure that if you ask politely he’ll be able to tell you some tales about them” he assured and gained a small smile from Harry as a result.

“Thank you Professor” he said sincerely.

“Of course Harry” he smiled before he glanced over to his clock on one of his shelves.

“Dinner will be served soon” he said, rising himself out of his chair, “I suppose we better make our way down to the Great Hall, hm?”

Harry nodded slowly, carefully leaving his cup back down on his desk and rising to his feet as well. Just as they were heading out the door, Harry spoke up again.

“Um, Professor can I ask you something else?”

“Of course Harry” he replied, mentally preparing himself for whatever question the boy must have about Sirius or his parents, or maybe even Professor Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Harry hesitated for a brief moment as if wondering if he should ask the question at all before he ploughed on. “Can you please go back to teaching us potions Professor, please?”

Sweet Merlin, seven in less than one week; that was a record even for Severus.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wish that Regulus could have survived and that we could have learned about his opinions on his family and the Marauders generation, particularly as his and Sirius' relationship deteriorated. Was he jealous of James? Furious that Sirius seemed to prefer his friends to him? Did he figure out Remus' condition? Did he have a friend that he loved as much as Sirius but lied to protect them in the end? Were him and Severus friends bonding over their dislike of the Marauders? I mean it's possible Snape would have taken any ally against them but at the same time he's still bitter towards Harry years on for no fault of Harry's own.
> 
> I tried not to be biased in any way towards either Snape or the Marauders when Regulus is talking to Harry for a number of reasons. One Harry is thirteen, so Regulus is probably going to be careful about what he tells him. He's not going to go in the dark details like what prompted his change of heart from the Death Eaters or give away people's privacy and dignity like telling him embarrassing pranks James and Sirius did against Snape. He's going to be honest with Harry and frank. Most of Regulus' memories of James probably showed him in a bad light and I can't imagine the two had a good relationship while at Hogwarts for a number of reasons. But he's also well aware of Severus' flaws because at this point he's known him for over twenty years now so he's not painting him as a saint either. He's painting the most accurate picture that he could with the information that he has.
> 
> And if you liked it please leave a comment. Thank you!


End file.
